Netted on Sweep Night

Saturday night was sweep night in East Hampton, with police officers from across the East End deployed here to look out for drunken drivers. The sweep led to five arrests.

A man who drove from Red Lion, Pa., to be the best man at a wedding in East Hampton was stopped for speeding on Three Mile Harbor Road and wound up facing an aggravated charge of driving while intoxicated. Anthony J. Kareis, 25, was said by police to have a blood-alcohol content of .20 when he was tested at headquarters. A reading of .18 or higher triggers a raised charge.

Mr. Kareis told Justice Catherine A. Cahill during his arraignment that he had been due back at work in Pennsylvania that morning.

“This is very sticky, and inconvenient, but the worst thing you can do right now is to drive,” she advised him.

He acknowledged having been charged in Pennsylvania for driving under the influence, the equivalent of drunken driving in that state, three years earlier. Depending on how that case was adjudicated he could be facing a felony charge here, and Dan Cronin, a county prosecutor who was in court Sunday morning, indicated that the district attorney’s office would be looking into just that possibility.

The defendant asked Justice Cahill if he could talk to her about getting an attorney.

“Talk to the bride. She has connections,” the justice said, as she set bail at $500.

Others arrested during the sweep included a Springs man, Howard A. Dunn, 51, who was said to be swerving across Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road in Springs when he was pulled over. He told the court he had been arrested twice before. “I did six days on Rikers,” he said.

Bail was set at $500.

Adam J.R. Haggiag, 30, was pulled over on Main Street in East Hampton, where police said his 1978 BMW had been traveling 41 miles an hour in a 30 m.p.h. zone. Mr. Haggiag told Justice Cahill he was in town for the film festival, adding that he has addresses in London, Manhattan, Water Mill, and California. He is staying in Water Mill for the next several months, he said.

The justice set bail at $500. Mr. Haggiag told her the only people he knew here who might help him raise the money were leaving for London that day.

“I think you’ll be able to make it happen,” she said.

Told that he could not drive because his license was now suspended, he asked how he was supposed to get food. Justice Cahill suggested Pea Pod, the home delivery service.

Alexander H. Reinwald, 34, of Montauk had been with friends at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett shortly before his arrest. His blood-alcohol content was said to be .13. The legal limit is .08.

When Justice Cahill set bail at $350, Mr. Reinwald told her he only had $175 in his wallet, which was back at the police station.

“All right. I’ll make it easy on everybody,” she said, lowering the bail to that amount.

A friend of Mr. Reinwald’s who had been with him the night before and was in court hoping to pick up her guitar, which she’d left in his car, reported that “there were cops everywhere” around the Talkhouse.

Russell G. Barone, 25, of Patchogue told the court he had come for the weekend to surf. He was stopped on Newtown Lane in East Hampton, reportedly after making an illegal U-turn. His bail was set at $350.

A couple living at the Hither Hills campground in Montauk both had bad days in court last week.

Glenn A. Kittren, who was charged with aggravated D.W.I. early last month after an Intoxilyzer reading of .23, was told last Thursday that the Suffolk district attorney’s office had obtained an indictment against him and he was now facing a felony charge, due to a previous drunken-driving conviction in Florida. On Monday night his girlfriend, Christine Hawkins, was herself charged with aggravated D.W.I., after being pulled over on Old Montauk Highway in Montauk. Her blood-alcohol content was said by police to be .21.

Ms. Hawkins told Justice Cahill it was her first arrest. Bail was set at $250. “Can you post that?” the justice asked Ms. Hawkins’s father, who was seated in the courtroom. He nodded.

About the Author

T.E. McMorrow began freelancing for The Star in 2009, before coming on staff, full time, at the end of 2011. He is a member of the Drama Desk in New York. His book, “Nutcracker in Harlem,” illustrated by James Ransome, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2016 by HarperCollins children’s division.